Pynchon's Bleeding Edge: Luddism

I grew up in a time of technological progress: I went from a Nokia 3310 to a Smartphone, from a home computer to a laptop and I am a frequent user of social media such as Facebook  even I cannot resist peer pressure. However, for a long time I resisted these technologies, a phenomenon known as Luddism. Although I am quite familiar with modern technology – or I thought I was – I enter unknown territory when encountering the technologies Pynchon describes in his novel Bleeding Edge. Nevertheless, references to things known in the West such as IKEA, Friends, the Simpsons, Pokémon, Cheetos, GameBoy, etc. keep you focused on the story. Despite Pynchon’s depiction of these aspects of daily life, many reviewers, such as Jarvis, Robson and Dirda, suggested that Pynchon critiques 2001 society for its late-capitalist consumer philosophy. That is, much has changed in our use of technology. In fact, the more technology evolves, the more reaction it provokes. By extension, America, the society, which is portrayed in Bleeding Edge, tends to believe that technology is superior and empowering but at the same time a vengeful weapon, as if it is a righteous tool for global dominance (Dinerstein 569). In other words, whereas the term luddite started with destroying the stocking frame, it is now a term for the invention of viruses, terrorist attacks, strikes and simply

Bleeding Edge refers to bleeding edge technologies, which indicates the speed of technological progress. At the same time, the title has a metaphorical meaning: bleeding edge refers to a wound (Kelly) or even more, it refers to a loss of sharpness as in “the habit things have of ceasing to be themselves – in this case, things such as the internet and New York” (Robson). In other words, technology is evolving so fast it becomes a shadow of itself, not knowing what will be invented next. Because we live in a world of knowledge, the unknown causes